


The Real You

by RoryMaria



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, MirSan, inukag - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 01:08:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4202154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoryMaria/pseuds/RoryMaria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sango's life changed drastically after tragedy hit her home town. While trying to heal her wounds, both physically and emotionally, she finds herself in a new city with an ever cheerful roommate named Kagome. Miroku lost his father very young, and as a result was raised by a group of monks. His best friend, Inuyasha, was raised at the same shrine along side him. Except Miroku holds a secret about his best friend that even Inuyasha himself doesn't know. What will happen when all their paths meet? (Modern day Inuyasha AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling sad one night and decided to start this story. Any constructive feedback is welcomed!

Sango stepped off the train, her back muscles screaming in protest from the heavy backpack weighing down her shoulders. Sighing, she hurried her step, causing  the luggage she was dragging behind her to bump and catch along the uneven pavement beneath it. She squinted slightly, and attempted to read her rushed handwriting on the piece of torn notebook paper that held directions to her new apartment. Suddenly, she wished she’d asked her new roommate, a girl named Kagome, to meet her at the train and show her the way to her new temporary home. Truth is, Sango had only been to the city once when she was little, and all she remembered was holding her father’s hand while he lead her through the busy streets.

 

Taking a moment to reminisce, Sango found herself lost in memories of her old home - a small town deep in the mountains. Sure, their town had been secluded, but that made it better, or at least Sango felt that way. It meant that everyone was family; everywhere you turned there were open arms and smiles. She’d heard that many people found small towns suffocating and intrusive, everyone knew everyone’s business and there was nowhere to go, but that wasn’t how Sango had felt growing up at all. Everyone in her town was supportive and welcoming, like an extension of her own family, and the area they occupied was too open to ever feel trapped. In fact, right now, standing on the corner of a foreign street, with people buzzing around her and giving her dirty looks for stopping short, Sango felt more trapped than she ever had before.

Heaving another heavy sigh, the young woman squared her shoulders and crossed the street, walking towards her destiny. A wave of relief flooded through her as Sango realized the street signs started to match the names sprawled across the paper in her hand. She was almost to her new dwelling place. Once she was a few blocks away, she spotted a gym that seemed to register somewhere in her mind. Suddenly, she recalled a conversation she’d had with Kagome a couple of weeks prior.

_“Yes, I’m sure I have enough money saved to cover my half of the first month’s rent, but after that, well…” Sango trailed off, holding in the anxious sigh that gathered in her lungs. Instead, she quickly followed with, “I’ll have to look for a job as soon as I get to the city. I’m just not sure where I could apply…”_

__

_“I’m sure you’ll find something! It’s a big city, Sango, there must be something you can do. What are you good at?” Kagome replied, her tone as cheerful as always. Sango paused._

__

_“Well...I’m not sure,” the older girl admitted. “Where I’m from, all we do is farm and study self defense. Two very opposite things, I know,” Sango was quick to say, not wanting to hear the usual reaction of “Farm and self defense?? Do you have to defend yourself from the cows?” It very well wasn’t Sango’s fault that, along with having to farm for the food they ate, her town was well known for weapon development and martial arts._

__

_“I don’t think you’ll find any farming jobs around here, but hey! There’s a gym not too far from the apartment that just opened a dojo where they’re teaching martial arts! I’m sure they could use some more instructors, you should try applying there first! Ugh,” by the volume of Kagome’s voice, Sango knew she pulled the phone away from her face, “Sota! Put that down or I’m taking you home right now!”_

Sango shook her head and found herself smiling at the memory. Following Kagome’s advice, she quickly entered through the glass double doors and into the gym. Leaving her heavy luggage with the guard by the door, Sango wandered off to find a desk where she could apply for the instructor job.

 

“That’s it, just like that,” Miroku purred as he watched his current client doing squats from behind. It was just the right position to get the perfect view of her rear as she worked out. “Remember,” he stepped forward as his client stood straight again, and pressed himself against her back, placing his hands on her flat stomach, “really feel it in your core as you’re doing it, okay?” He smiled innocently, although his thoughts were anything but. From the way his client blushed, he assumed that their minds were on the same track.

He stepped away again, and allowed his client to finish up while his eyes wandered the gym, taking in all the other beauties around him. His eyes focused on the full glass windows at the front of the gym, or more importantly, what laid just beyond those windows. Standing in front of the gym had to be the most beautiful woman the monk had ever seen, and that was saying something; the young man had seen his fair share of beautiful women. Still, the one who had just entered the building caught his eye like none other, and he found himself desperate to speak to her. Clearing his throat, he focused his attention back to his client and said, “Good work today. You can finish up with a short jog on one of the treadmills if you would like. Otherwise, that’s all I had planned for today. I’ll see you next week!” With a smile and thank you, his client was off to find a free treadmill, and the personal trainer wasted no time walking towards the information desk.

With a pen in her hand and an application in front of her, Sango was shocked by how nice and helpful the workers at this gym were. Usually staff members at places like this were unenthusiastic and rude, but when Sango walked up and asked if they were looking to hire any more martial arts instructors, the woman behind the counter smiled widely and quickly thrusted an application her way. She frowned as she began to fill it out though, finding that she was lacking much of the needed information. And to her dismay, a male about her age had just posted himself right next to her. _Great,_ Sango thought, _here we go…_

Miroku casually leaned one arm against the countertop of the desk, and sighed happily, running a hand through his bangs that had fallen loose of his ponytail. Turning towards the striking woman to his right, he gave his best smile. “Hello there! My name is Miroku, I’m one of the personal trainers here. Are you signing up for a membership? If you are, I’d be more than happy to help you get settled into a workout routine that’s best fit for you. You can just write my name down on the line for requested trainer.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Sango said, without looking up from the application. _Oh no_ , she thought in dismay. _Previous martial arts instructor name and place of work?_ She couldn’t fit the explanation that she’d trained alongside everyone in her town, and that everyone was a teacher as well as a student, into just the two lines given on the application. Remembering that she was addressing the man next to her, she quickly finished, “I’m not signing up for a membership, I’m interested in the martial arts program.”

 

“Ah, you’ve heard about the new dojo they opened up!” Miroku responded, not being discouraged by her seemingly lack of interest. They all started out like this, but then they would fall victim to his charm eventually. “I actually happen to be one of the instructors there myself. I could give you a few pointers now if you’d like.” When the woman didn’t seem to intend to answer him, Miroku stole a glance at her application to learn her name. Sango was the name neatly printed in the first box, and next to it the bubble in front of the word “instructor” was checked off. Oh. “Oh, forgive me. I seem to have underestimated your skill. Where have you worked previously? And where did you study? Maybe I know your old teacher.”

 

Sango couldn’t help but snort at that, and Miroku smiled fondly; finally, he was getting somewhere with her. Considering that most of her application was blank and there was no way of getting her two letters of recommendation that were required according to the print at the bottom of the application, Sango made the split decision to see if this man could be useful to her after all. “Actually,” she began hesitantly, “I come from a small town in the mountains a few miles away from here. Self defense was something our family has been practicing for generations...I sort of grew up with it. I never went somewhere outside of home to learn, and I’ve never worked as an instructor before, except to teach the younger kids in my town. And my little brother…” Sango had said too much, and quickly stopped herself and the negative memories that threatened to fill her mind. She heard the woman behind the counter sigh.

 

“Oh, so you aren’t certified? You might as well throw your application away, then,” the woman sounded as disappointed and heartbroken as Sango felt. But then again, she kind of knew that this would happen. Her shoulders slumped as she turned away, but the man next to her placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Wait a minute. You must be very good at this art if you grew up with it. You probably know it better than the instructors we have now. Give me your application, I’ll look it over and arrange for an interview where you can show me what you know. If you prove to be fit to teach then you’ve got the job,” Miroku said seriously, finishing with an assuring smile. He’d noticed that the woman had entered the gym with a rather large luggage, too big to be carrying school or business things, and she was also carrying a bag on her back. For her to even be applying for this job knowing that she lacked so much of the required information, Miroku could only assume that she really needed the income. She was probably new to the city, since she’d spoken of her home town being so far away. The monk didn’t have the heart to turn her away, at least not before she could prove herself to be unworthy of the job.

 

Sango’s eyes lit up. “Really? You’d do that for me? Thank you!” she quipped quickly before he could change his mind. “Thank you so much! Oh, how rude of me. I’m Sango,” she introduced herself politely to him now that she realized she needed him. When she thought he was just some gym bozo who was trying to get her number, Sango had tried to avoid giving him her name. Now she found herself sticking out her right hand for him to shake, and noticed that the hand that met hers was covered in an odd purple sleeve that covered about half of his forearm. There were also beads wrapped around the dark material. Sango noted that it must be very uncomfortable to work out while wearing that, but forced herself not to stare or think about it while the man was in front of her. She couldn’t afford to lose this job. Literally.

 

“Sango, I look forward to your interview,” he smiled at her and pulled his hand away. He noticed that she’d looked at his covered hand, but politely met his eyes again as quickly as her gaze fell. He appreciated that. Not many people had the decency to pretend they didn’t notice it. He hated having to explain to people what he himself didn’t understand. And the lie he usually gave people was starting to make him feel heavy.

 

The monk felt his smile grow as Sango excused herself and left the gym in slightly better spirits than she had entered it in. Something about this girl was different, and Miroku hoped that he would get the chance to figure it out. Taking a quick glance at her application, he saw that she had marked “weapons” as her specialty. He wondered what that would include, and shook his head hard to keep the dirty images of what Sango could do with weapons out of his head. Turning to the pretty woman behind the counter, Miroku flashed one of his devilish grins. “So, when does your shift end?”

~~~~

 

With a little more pep in her step, Sango quickly walked the rest of the short way to her new apartment. She easily lifted her over packed luggage up the many flights of stairs before finally setting it down in front of the door that would soon become familiar to her. Her hands shook slightly as she pulled out her newly made key, and she took a deep breath before closing her eyes. _It’s okay_ , she told herself. _You’ll only be here for a little while. You don’t have to become close with Kagome. No one has to know about your past. You won’t lose anyone else…_

 

Opening her eyes, Sango noded to herself and pushed the key into the lock, turning it slowly before pushing the door open. She blinked when she saw Kagome standing on the other side of the door with her hands folded together by her face, smiling widely. “Hello!” she chirped happily, leaning forward to grab Sango’s luggage and drag it inside. “Here, let me help you!”

 

“Oh...Thank you,” Sango replied quietly, hesitantly walking into the apartment. She noticed that there was a nice smell coming from the kitchen, and that the table was already set for two. Did Kagome have company? Maybe she was being nice so that she could tell Sango that she wanted the apartment to herself tonight.

Noticing her gaze was lingering on the table, Kagome quickly explained, “Oh, I thought you might be hungry after your travels, so I made us dinner. It’s okay if you’re not up to eat yet though! I can put your portion away for later if you’d rather get settled first.” The younger girl finished with her signature smile, and clasped her hands together behind her back. Sango just blinked again, the kindness taking her by surprise.

 

“Thank you, Kagome. I’m starving, I’ll pay you back for the food right away,” Sango promised, realizing as she said it that her stomach really was empty. She hadn’t been eating well these past few weeks, and the food Kagome had made smelled amazing. The older girl moved towards the kitchen while Kagome waved a hand in her direction.

 

“Don’t worry about it! Take it as a welcoming gift,” Kagome smiled again before busying herself with bringing out the food. It was silent for a moment before Kagome asked her how her traveling went.

 

“Pretty well. The train ride wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be,” she smiled, and Kagome giggled in agreement. Suddenly remembering the gym, Sango went on to say, “Oh! I passed the gym you told me about. I went in to apply, and I thought they would turn me away really quickly, but a man that works there offered me an interview. Since I can’t give them a reference from where I learned martial arts, he said he’s going to observe my skills and see if I’m fit to be an instructor.”

 

“Are you nervous about that? I mean one guy’s opinion could make or break you,” Kagome commented, scooping some rice into Sango’s bowl. Sango found herself smirking when she shook her head.

 

“Not really. I’ve been training and teaching my entire life. I think I’m probably better than he is, to be quite honest.”

 

“Hmmm,” Kagome said, finally sitting down after serving the food. “What did you say the man looked like?” she asked, picking up her chopsticks.

 

“I didn’t,” Sango said, beginning to eat. While she chewed she considered the man’s appearance. “He was about my age. Dark hair tied into a ponytail, pierced ears, fairly tall - oh! He wore a strange glove on his right hand. I didn’t make a comment about it though, I didn’t want to seem rude.”

 

Kagome nodded her head with a knowing smile, and Sango couldn’t help but narrow her eyes. “I knew it,” Kagome laughed to herself while she chewed. “So you’ve met Miroku.”

 

“That’s what he said his name was!” Sango said, mostly to herself as her fist pounded lightly on her thigh. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten! Well, I mean he had said his name when she thought he was just trying to womanize, it’s not her fault she wasn’t paying complete attention. “So, how do you know him?” Sango couldn’t help but question. She wondered if maybe they were dating. Somehow that image just didn’t seem right.

 

Just then there was a knock on the door, and a gruff male voice shouted Kagome’s name. Sighing with a smile on her face, the younger female said, “That’s Inuyasha. I wondered how long it would take for you two to meet - I have to admit though, I didn’t count on you meeting Miroku first.” Kagome laughed to herself as she stood up to answer the door.

 

 _Inuyasha?_ Sango thought. _What an odd name_. She stood with her new roommate and walked towards the door a few steps behind her. When the door opened, there stood a boy around Kagome’s age with long silver hair tied into a ponytail. A few strands on either side of his head were let loose, though, and covered his ears. He wore a red tshirt and dark blue jeans. Sango noted that his feet were bare as he stood in the hall.

 

“Kagome,” he barked, crossing his arms in anger, “Will you please tell Miroku that Shippo is NOT staying with us when he comes to visit? We already agreed that he’d stay with you!”

 

Suddenly, by his side was the raven haired man Sango had just previously met, except he adorned a new expression. Rolling his eyes, Miroku leaned against the doorway like the action was one familiar to him. “I was just saying that maybe it was a better idea that Shippo stay with us! Kagome is getting a new roommate and it might be wise that he - oh,” Miroku broke off, eyes landing on Sango, “why, hello again. What a pleasant surprise. Sango, was it? How you are a sight for sore eyes.” The monk had moved away from the door and was now standing in front of Sango, holding her hands in both of his. He smiled as she stiffened and blushed softly.

 

“Who the hell is Sango?” the silver haired male said, his tone clearly annoyed. Kagome sighed, and for the first time, Sango noticed that her expression wasn’t happy.

 

“This is Sango, my new roommate? I only mentioned her about a hundred times in the past couple of weeks, really, do either of you boys ever listen to me?” Kagome’s fists her were balled at her sides, and Sango watched as both boys’ expressions turned to slight discomfort, edging on fear. Sango herself had to admit that Kagome did seem a little scary when she was angry.

 

“Sorry, Kagome, I guess I was so excited about a new girl living across the hall, I failed to remember all the details,” Miroku said, a small smile on his face as he released Sango’s hands to scratch the back of his head. His friend snorted.

 

“I remembered your roommate’s name, alright, I just didn’t think this could be her since it seems like Miroku already knows her,” the one who must be Inuyasha said, and Sango watched as Miroku lit up.

 

“Ah yes! Sango and I just met at the gym earlier this evening,” he explained, and Inuyasha scoffed.

“So you’re following them home now, huh? That’s a new one for ya, monk, I’ll give ya that.”

“Monk?” Sango couldn’t help but question, and Miroku frowned as he turned his head between the two of them. “You’re a monk? I thought you were a trainer...and a martial arts instructor?”

“I didn’t follow her home, I had no idea she was Kagome’s new roommate! And we live right across the hall, dumbass,” the dark haired man said in Inuyasha’s direction. When he turned to Sango, he voice was only slightly less annoyed. “And yes, I am a monk. Well, not really.”

“Good,” Sango said before he could say any more. “I don’t think a monk should behave towards women the way you do.” Inuyasha outwardly laughed before Kagome slapped his arm to tell him to stop. Although she herself was holding in giggles after looking at Miroku’s shocked face.

“My dear Sango, what ever do you mean?”

“Oh please,” the girl rolled her eyes, placing her hand on her hip. “Save it. I saw how you were working with your client today, and don’t think I didn’t hear you ask out the woman behind the desk! Face it, Miroku, you’re a womanizer.”

Kagome didn’t even try to stop Inuyasha’s laughter while they both looked at Miroku’s defeated face. For some reason, Kagome felt proud of her new roommate. Every other girl had immediately fallen for Miroku’s tricks, and he’d used them for whatever he wanted. She had to admit to herself that she was worried about how Sango would fair with Miroku, but she was happy to see that the older girl seemed to be the only woman who Miroku couldn’t conquer.

“You’ve got me all wrong, Sango, I’m much more than that!” the monk tried to defend himself, but he was answered with another eyeroll.

“Uh huh, I’m sure. Anyway, it was nice meeting you Inuyasha, but I think I’m going to get back to my dinner. If you’ll all excuse me,” Sango said, just trying to get out of the room. She couldn’t believe she had said all of that to Miroku! Especially after he was already doing her such a huge favor. She didn’t know what came over her, something about the way he easily grabbed her hands, like it was a move he’d done a million times before; he didn’t even really see her there, he just inserted the name of whatever pretty girl was in front of him and said his magic lines and what? Expected her to fall for it? No way! What gave him the right to just play with her emotions like that? Yeah right, like she would ever fall for a guy like that. Still…

She was really embarrassed and glad to be alone in the kitchen with her food. She didn’t want to consider the fact that Miroku might cancel her interview because of her disrespectful outburst. All she wanted to do was eat the delicious food that Kagome had made.

“Dinner? Is that Kagome’s cooking I smell?” Miroku asked before Sango could leave the room. His voice seemed hopeful and Sango cursed to herself. Oh god, please no.

“I thought you two might come over tonight,” Kagome sighed, but Sango heard the ever present smile in her voice. “I made enough for all of us, and don’t worry Inuyasha, it’s nothing spicy.”

“Good,” Inuyasha said, walking past a distressed Sango towards the kitchen. “I don’t know how you people eat that stuff. It feels like my tongue is going to fall off!”

“Oh come now, Inuyasha,” Miroku said, walking next to Sango as she silently made her way to the kitchen after the silver haired male. “Don’t be such a baby. For a man that can take multiple bullet wounds, you’d think your one weakness wouldn’t be curry…”

If that statement didn’t spark a million questions in Sango’s head, nothing could. However, the girl kept her questions to herself, fearing that her mouth had gotten her in enough trouble tonight. Miroku sat down next to her, and he and Inuyasha filled the dinner conversation without noticing how quiet she had become. Kagome, on the other hand, noticed that Sango hadn’t said much since they started eating, and kept glancing at her throughout the meal. She didn’t want to pry, especially in front of the two males, and she figured Sango must just be tired from her travels, so she let it go.

After dinner, Sango offered to clean the dishes. She said it was the least she could do since Kagome had prepared the meal all by herself. Before he left, Inuyasha stopped by the kitchen to say goodbye to Sango. “It was nice to meet you, especially since I’ve known Miroku for years now, and you’re the first girl to ever reject him,” he told her, and she started blushing, wishing she could go back in time and keep her mouth shut. At that moment Miroku walked in and roughly slapped his hand down on Inuyasha’s shoulder.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he said, turning to give Sango a very genuine smile. He noticed she was blushing pretty hard, and only smiled wider. “It was nice to see you again, Sango, I’ll stop by sometime this week to set up a date for your interview.”

Sango was shocked that he was still giving her a chance, so all she could do was nod her head, her mouth slightly hung open in shock. He smiled again and both men left the apartment together. Kagome walked in not long after that to help Sango dry the dishes, and then said goodnight. Finally alone, Sango sighed in relief, feeling like she could breathe again. Today had been long, and quite eventful to say the least. She dragged her luggage into her new room, and dumped her backpack next to it. Kagome had already put clean sheets on the bed, and Sango gratefully stripped down to her underwear, too tired to search in her bags for pajamas, and collapsed onto the mattress. Sooner than sleep had found her in weeks, Sango was passed out snoring, comfortably snuggled under the sheets.


	2. Chapter 2

A week after she moved in, Sango was walking into the small dojo attached to the gym to meet with Miroku. It was currently seven in the morning, the only time that they were both free. Miroku took classes at the local university during the week on top of working every evening, and Sango herself became busy with getting settled into her new home; it proved to be a bigger struggle than she had originally thought. Nevertheless, here they were, together in the completely empty dojo. Sango didn’t know what she expected her interview to be like, but she somehow had expected more people to be around.

“Are you the only person I have to impress?” Sango asked, eyes still lingering around the empty space. She was glad that she had opted for casual workout clothes - spandex shorts and a loose tshirt - rather than her battle gear. She had debated on what to wear since it was, after all, a job interview, but also something that would require easy physical movement. In her mind, Sango expected to be showing her martial arts skills to Miroku and as well as the other instructors. She hadn’t considered that it might be just the two of them. If she’d worn her battle suit she really would have been over dressed, and probably a little embarrassed.

Miroku stood by the entrance of the dojo, and leaned back against the wall while he watched Sango. He pushed thoughts of what she could do to “impress him” out of his mind and smiled. “Seems that way. I was the one who really pushed for this to be built, I guess you could say I’m the head instructor here. My opinion is the only one that really matters.”

“You pushed for this to be built?” Sango swirled around to focus her attention on her companion. Her eyebrows had originally shot upward in shock but now pulled down in confusion. “Why is that? Is this something you’re passionate about?” Deep down, Sango wondered if maybe she shared something in common with Miroku; she tried not to question why she wanted that to be true.

Nodding, the dark haired man lifted a staff from the pile that leaned against the wall next to him. “It was something that the monks who raised me insisted that I learned growing up. Self defense was something that held value to them - to us, I suppose.” Miroku didn’t look at Sango as he spoke, but she watched his expression change into something she’d never seen before. He’d visited with her and Kagome every day that week, but she’d never seen him act like this, so serious and so...sad?

“You were raised by monks?” Sango prodded quietly, unsure if she was asking too much. She herself wasn’t one to spill her backstory to just anyone, so she would understand if he refused to delve deeper into the topic. However, Miroku simply smiled sadly and continued to look at the staff.

“You never asked about my hand,” he commented, surprising Sango with how random it seemed.

“What?” she asked, her expression becoming more confused as Miroku laughed quietly, the noise seeming to come more from fondness than joy. He finally looked up at her, placing the staff at his side and casually leaning against it.

“You’re the only person who has gone this long without asking me why I wear this on my hand,” Miroku clarified, raising his right hand and waving it in the air. Sango looked away out of politeness, but the monk just shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Honestly, I’m used to people asking by now. Just so you know, it’s not some weird fashion statement. Okay, you were supposed to laugh at that,” he commented when the woman he was with stayed silent, and gave a genuine laugh himself at how awkward the situation had become. Sango smiled politely at him.

“I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable at all. I don’t really care if you have something different about your right hand, it hasn’t stopped you from being kind to me, and it’s not something that would make me think of you differently,” the woman explained, shrugging her shoulders and rubbing her arms nervously. Emotional talks weren’t something she found herself good at lately. She’d felt bad every time she shut down Kagome when she’d asked Sango what’s been bothering her. It’s not that she likes to just shut people down, it’s just that after all that has happened recently with her brother and family, she doesn’t know how to let people in anymore.

“I’m not uncomfortable. Like I said, I’m used to it. Plus, if we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, I think you should know. It’ll keep you from having to wonder about it, which I know you must be,” Miroku told her, and only smiled as Sango blushed, realizing she had wondered quite a bit actually. Sighing, the monk slowly opened the material that covered his hand, and Sango really couldn’t stop the gasp that left her mouth upon seeing what it covered. There was a small hole in the center of Miroku’s palm, as if the flesh and bone had just disappeared from that spot.

Miroku was actually relieved at the response he got from Sango. Most people reacted much more harshly, or even became ill from the sight, and would dive into several questions. However, Sango just gasped more in wonder than disgust, and waited for Miroku to continue, which he did. “I have a flesh eating disease. It’s not contagious at all, it’s actually a genetic disorder only found in the males in my family. Doctors and scientists worldwide have been studying it, but none of them can find answers.”

“Wow,” Sango murmured, walking closer to get a better look at Miroku’s hand. She could see how scientists would be stumped, it looked more like special effects or a magic trick rather than a real hand. Her eyes didn’t leave his hand as she asked, “It is deadly?”

“I’m afraid so,” Miroku conceded, holding in the sigh that always left him when he spoke of this. He didn’t want to discourage Sango when this was the most serious conversation they’d had since they’d met. “My father died from it when I was very young, which is why I was raised by monks, as I mentioned earlier. The disease slowly spreads until it consumes the entire body. The more strain I put on my hand the faster it’ll spread.”

**  
**  


“Does it hurt,” Sango’s voice was soft as she asked, her eyes wide as they looked into his. Miroku’s breath caught in his throat from how intense her gaze was.

“Only if I use my right hand too often,” he said with the most innocent intention, yet Sango blushed deeply and looked away, and Miroku almost felt proud that her mind could be that dirty. Letting the opportunity pass, he continued on explaining. “The monks who raised me spoke of records that say a young boy grew up in the shine I did, many years ago. An ancestor of mine, to be exact. The story is that a curse was placed on his grandfather by a demon, and that every male in our family would suffer this fate until the demon was defeated. So the monks gave me these beads to wear to help conceal the curse. Of course, I don’t believe in all of that, but the beads do help with the pain when it arises. I assume the beads just help to massage the sore muscles,” Miroku finished explaining, covering his hand back up and wrapping the beads tightly over the material. Sango seemed lost in thought when Miroku looked back at her. He was just about to ask her if she was okay when she spoke.

“I grew up hearing stories about demons too,” Sango confessed, somehow feeling like she had to offer something of her past since Miroku had told her so much of his. “My father told me a story about how our ancestors were demon slayers, that’s why our town still practices martial arts so devoutly. It’s part of who we are, apparently. I don’t believe it either though, I think it’s much more plausible that my ancestors were soldiers than demon slayers.”

“Either way, why don’t you show me what you’ve got?” Miroku said and straightened his posture. Sango seemed confused as she looked at him.

“Huh?”

Miroku only laughed. Her facial expressions were really cute. “Your resume said you specialized in weapons. I’m not sure what you’re used to, but let’s see how well you do with a staff. I’m pretty good with one myself,” he bragged, handing the staff in his hand to the woman next to him. Sango blushed. _Of course_ , she thought, taking the staff, _the interview._

Without waiting for his signal, Sango immediately began to show off her skills, fighting off an imaginary opponent with the staff, as well as throwing in a few intricate moves involving kicks and jumps. She wasn’t even out of breath once she circled around the entire dojo. Miroku had to admit he was impressed with her form, and the level of skill she had to pull off some of those attacks. However, he wanted to push her even more. Grabbing a staff for himself, Miroku said, “That was impressive, Sango. Now, let’s see how well you do in actual hand to hand combat.” The grin that crossed Sango’s face wasn’t missed by the monk who had been watching her every move.

“I thought you would never ask,” Sango replied as she lunged forward, thrusting her staff towards to monk. The dojo was filled with grunts and the clanking of their staffs meeting time and time again as they sparred. For the first time in a long time Sango actually felt herself being challenged by her opponent, and she was enjoying the fight. She hadn’t had a friendly spar in too long now.

Feeling herself becoming tired, Sango figured it was time to end the fight. With practiced ease, she jumped into the air in front of Miroku and, holding the staff horizontally, brought the wooden stick down behind Miroku, holding it at just about his shoulder blades. Pulling it forward, their bodies collided and Sango pinned Miroku’s upper body against hers, rendering his arms useless while she used her grip on the staff to help lift her legs up. She hooked her legs around his hips, and kicked the monk’s knees in from behind, making the man fall to the ground, with her on top. Putting her weight on her knees, Sango sat hovering just above Miroku’s waist as they locked eyes, chests rising and falling as they panted for breath. They’d been sparring for awhile now, and both of them were feeling a bit flushed.

Finally catching his breath, Miroku sat up slowly and Sango quickly crawled off of him and stood, helping him up as well. When she looked at his face, he was smiling. “Well, Sango, you’ve got the job. I’ll stop by the apartment later tonight to bring you paperwork and set up a schedule.”

Blushing, Sango bowed her head in gratefulness and gave a quiet, “Thank you.”

“I’ve got to get cleaned up before class,” Miroku said, backing away towards the door as he spoke, a smile still on his face as he looked at the blushing woman before him. He didn’t want to ever stop looking at her, but he was crossing the doorway now, so regrettably he called out, “I’ll see you tonight!” before running out the door. He checked the watch on his wrist. Shit, that had taken much longer than he expected; he’d be lucky if he was just five minutes late to class. An hour later when he walked into the lecture hall twenty minutes late, Miroku still had a smile on his face. Being with Sango was completely worth the part of the lecture he missed, even if he did have an important exam the next class.

Back at her apartment, Sango couldn’t wait for Kagome to get home so she could tell her the good news. She had a job. She had a home. She had a way of getting back to Kohaku. _Just hang in there, please,_ Sango thought, _I’m coming._

~~~~~~~~

Later that night, after dropping off paperwork and coming up with a schedule that worked for Sango, Miroku walked back into his apartment and threw himself down onto one of the kitchen chairs. He was absolutely exhausted, and somehow still feeling happy. What was it about that woman that made him feel this way?

Inuyasha walked into the kitchen from the hallway that led to their bedrooms. His silver hair was down now, exposing his dog ears, which twitched with freedom after being covered all day. Miroku felt a twinge of some feeling tug at his heart. He’d grown up with Inuyasha at the shine, neither of them having parents. He’d known about Inuyasha’s true identity his entire life, and he’d also known that he had to keep it a secret from everyone else. Only he and the monks who raised him knew of Inuyasha’s secret. Well, that was before they met Kagome. But still, it wasn’t an easy life to live.

“What’s got that dumb smile on your face? I haven’t seen a girl around the apartment, that means you can’t have gotten laid. So what gives?” Inuyasha asked, opening a bag of chips and beginning to stuff his face. Miroku just stared at his childhood best friend with a blank expression and sighed. Sometimes, he thought Inuyasha was hopeless. But those were only the times he wasn’t around Kagome.

“It’s just…” Miroku trailed off and felt himself smiling harder as he thought of his new neighbor across the hall. “It’s Sango. I can’t get her off my mind, I’ve never felt this way before.”

“Never been this excited to bone a girl, huh?” Inuyasha asked around a mouth full of chips. He stuck a crumb filled finger in Miroku’s direction. “Just watch yourself, monk. Remember that she’s living with Kagome, and if you make things awkward at all Kagome will kick your-”

“But that’s just it!” Miroku interrupted, his smile wider now as he animatedly leaned across the table in the direction of his friend, who stood behind the kitchen counter. “I don’t just want to bed her. In fact, I haven’t even been thinking of that. Well, not much anyway. Instead I can’t stop thinking about her smile, or her blush, or what her favorite food must be, or where she would want to go on a first date. What’s happened to me, Inuyasha?” The monk almost sounded fearful as he questioned his best friend, who only shrugged.

“Beats the hell out of me. But hey, did you find out any more about where she’s from?” Inuyasha asked, and Miroku sighed, nodding his head. He had been dreading this conversation, for several reasons. The main one being that he didn’t want a reason not to trust the only girl he’d ever had potential feelings for. Pressure started to build in his head, and he tried to ignore the pulsing coming from his right hand.

“It seems like our suspicions were right, Inuyasha. Sango is indeed from the demon slayer village, the one the monks told us about growing up,” Miroku said, rubbing at his temples. Somehow he felt like everything was turning into a puzzle, and pieces were slowly falling into place. First they met Kagome, and in turn Shippo, then the pain in his hand started happening, and now a descendant of a demon slayer was among them. Something was happening, but Miroku wasn’t sure what.

“So? Do you think we should do something about it? Do you think Kagome is in danger?” Inuyasha asked, his voice and stance casual, but his ear twitched again, no doubt listening for any sign of distress from the apartment across the hall. The monk shook his head.

“No, on the contrary, in fact. I believe Sango is the one in danger.” Miroku sighed when his friend gave him a confused look. “The demon slayer village is centered around family, community, belonging. Every person in the village is important - at least that’s how it was explained to us growing up, right? By the fond expression Sango has when she speaks of her home, I can’t imagine it’s much different now. So why, at such a young age, would Sango leave home? She’s not living with family, or going to school, and she was desperate to find any job she could. She’s got to be running from something Inuyasha. Something isn’t right here.”

“You make a lot of sense, monk,” Inuyasha commented, nodding his head. He finished his bag of chips and proceeded to ball it up in his hand. When he threw it out, he caught sight of his friend’s worried expression and stopped. “Listen, it’s going to work out. Don’t think too hard, just do what you’re good at and be a waste of space alright? Hey!”

The half dog demon laughed when his best friend stood up and gripped him in a headlock. The boys playfully fought, resembling two puppies, for a few moments before deciding to go to bed. Miroku was thankful that he could always count on his best friend to have his back. The pressure in his head left once he confided in Inuyasha, and he was able to fall asleep as he usually did. Except tonight he couldn’t keep the thoughts of a certain beautiful dark haired woman out of his dreams.

 


	3. Chapter 3

A few weeks had passed, and Sango found herself settled into a nice schedule. She worked every day at the dojo, most times alongside Miroku, who Sango noticed had become a lot less flirtatious with his personal clients at the gym. For the most part he gave good instruction while teaching at the dojo as well, but every now and then Sango would catch him with his hands on a woman during one of their martial arts classes, teaching them the correct “fighting stance”. When the monk would feel her eyes on him, he would just look up and give an embarrassed smile. Sango would simply send him a death glare and turn away. Of course, if anyone asked her about it she would tell them she just didn’t care for his work ethic, it’s not like she was jealous or anything like that.

She’d also met the only other instructor they had, a man by the name of Koga. At first Sango had found the blue eyed male arrogant and rude, but she changed her mind about him when she’d arrived back at the dojo early from her break and got to watch him finishing his afternoon class. The dojo was filled with small children, and Sango couldn’t help but smile at how encouraging he was to them, even though they were too young to perfect the movements yet. Two assistant instructors were always at his side, though they didn’t do much but allow Koga to demonstrate on them. They also helped to pacify any frustrated child.

Along with working, Sango started to get used to her domestic schedule as well. She and Kagome would take turns with who would cook dinner, and most days Inuyasha and Miroku would stop by to eat with them, and usually stayed until late into the evening. Sango felt herself quickly becoming attached to the group, they’d welcomed her instantly and never made her feel like “the new girl”. As happy as that made her, it also scared her to death, because everyone she’d become close with had been taken from her. She didn’t want to put anyone else in danger.

“You okay, Sango?” Inuyasha asked, watching the girl Miroku was obsessed with zone out several times during their usual friday night dinner. Friday Night Dinner consisted of what Kagome’s mother liked to call Lazy Food: packs of Ramen and Cup Noodles. They also had sides of chips and sweets. Basically, it was the end of the week, and neither Kagome or Sango felt like making actual food.

“Huh? Oh yes, I’m fine,” Sango struggled to say, looking up at Inuyasha. His silver hair was down now, except for the portions on either side of his head that were pulled back and knotted into a braid down the back of his head. Sango had to admit on any other man the hair style would have looked funny, but Inuyasha some how made it seem cool. He was dressed in all black today - black tshirt, black jeans - and as usual was lacking shoes. His eyes were wide with concern as he looked back at her, and Sango swallowed. “I guess I just had a tiring week.”

“Hm,” Inuyasha nodded, sharing a glance with Miroku that Sango didn’t notice. Kagome was quick to change the subject, knowing her roommate wouldn’t want to talk any more than that.

“So, do we know what day Shippo is coming?” the younger girl asked before taking a sip of her water. Miroku answered her, his eyes not leaving Sango for a moment.

“Uh, yes. He’ll be arriving tomorrow, probably in the afternoon. We’re settled on his sleeping arrangements, right?” he asked, not wanting to hear Inuyasha complain anymore. The young demon and the half demon butted heads on everything, and Miroku would rather sleep in the hallway than share a living space with those two.

“Mhm, Sango said she didn’t mind if we had a friend stay with us, right Sango?” Kagome asked, her cheerful tone never absent when she spoke to her roommate, who nodded in agreement.

“Of course I don’t mind, Kagome. He’s your friend, if you want him to stay here, I have no problem with it,” Sango replied, finishing what was left of her water. She pushed her bowl of ramen away from her, giving a stuffed groan. “Ugh, I think we may have overdone it, guys. I can’t eat another bite, and I still have an entire bowl of ramen left.”

Inuyasha’s ears perked up so fast that they almost poked through the hair that was tied back to hold them down. “I-I’ll finish it for you, if you want,” he offered, a bit shyly as his stomach growled. When it came to ramen, the half demon always had room to scarf it down. Miroku joked that his stomach was a bottomless pit when the quick make noodles were involved, and Inuyasha couldn’t really tell him that he was wrong.

“Go for it,” Sango giggled as she pushed her bowl across the table towards the happy male, and Miroku’s stomach tightened at the sound. Sango was rarely as relaxed as she was now, and Miroku yearned to be the one to make her anxieties go away. A woman as amazing as her deserved to be happy. Realizing he was staring, the monk quickly looked down and busied himself with adjusting the beads on his hand. The pain was starting to come back.

_“The curse is being awakened,” the overweight monk sighed, shaking his head. “I feared this would happen.”_

__

_“But what can I do?” Miroku asked, feeling his annoyance build as the drunk monk gave vague answers. Glassy eyes met his, and Miroku felt a cold shock go through him._

__

_“There is nothing that can be done now.”_

__

“Hey monk! What’s the matter with you? We’ve been trying to get your attention here,” Inuyasha called, a few noodles hanging out from his mouth. Miroku shook his head, clenching his right hand into a fist.

“I’m just tired, I suppose,” the monk mumbled, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Sango wanted to reach out to him, but kept her distance. She didn’t know him that well, he’d probably rather have Inuyasha or Kagome comfort him. Sighing, Inuyasha stood after slurping the last few noodles into his mouth.

“Alright, I think this is our cue to go. Come on, Miroku, don’t want you falling asleep on Kagome’s table,” the half demon said, walking around the table to drag his friend away by the back of his shirt. “See ya tomorrow, Kagome,” Inuyasha called as he opened the door. “Night Sango.”

Miroku gratefully allowed his friend to drag him away, calling his goodnight to both Kagome and Sango, who gave the boys generic goodbyes before clearing the table and making their way out of the kitchen.

“What do you think was on Miroku’s mind?” Kagome asked as the girls walked towards their rooms. Sango was surprised that Kagome was even asking her opinion, since the younger girl knew him much better. Still, Sango thought it over before giving an answer.

“I know his hand has been bothering him, I think the pain is getting worse,” she said, her voice quiet with the thoughts running through her mind.

_“Is it deadly?”_

__

_“I’m afraid so.”_

“You’re right,” Kagome sighed, pulling Sango out of her negative state of mind. The smile returned to her roommate's face as quickly as it left. “Oh well! Knowing Miroku, he’ll outlive all of us.”

Somehow, the words comforted Sango more than anything had in months. She smiled back at her friend as they said goodnight and made their way to their own rooms. After changing into sleeping clothes, the older girl found herself free of her usual nightmares, even if it was just for one night.

The next morning Sango woke up at dawn. Saturdays were her days off, and Kagome didn’t attend classes on Saturdays either. They usually spent the day together lounging around their apartment before hanging out with the boys across the hall. Today was different though, Sango didn’t feel her usual lazy self. The air around her prickled with tension that she couldn’t find the source to, so she just gave up on sleep and took a shower, getting ready for the day. She was surprised to find Inuyasha and Kagome ready and in the kitchen when she walked out of her room at eight am.

The two stared at Sango in surprised for a moment before Kagome broke into a smile. “Oh, Sango, good morning,” she said happily after she got over her shock. She didn’t think she’d see Sango until the late afternoon. “What has you up so early?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Sango replied, taking a seat on one of the kitchen chairs. Shrugging her shoulders, she responded, “I woke up and couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I decided to just get up. I didn’t expect you two to be up yet, though.”

Inuyasha continued to look at her with a confused expression. “Didn’t you know? Kagome and I have breakfast with her family at least once a month. That’s where we’re headed now,” he informed the brunette sitting in front of him as he straightened himself from leaning against their counter. Sango noticed that for the first time ever he had shoes on, well, if flip flops counted as shoes. He seemed to dress sharper than usual, too; his dark blue jeans were wrinkle free and more fitted to his body, and on top of his plain white cotton tshirt he wore an opened black button up, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Sango smiled. She had a feeling there was something going on between Inuyasha and Kagome, but by the way he was dressing nicer to see her family, he might as well have confirmed it.

Shaking her head, Sango said, “I didn’t know that, but I think that’s nice. Does Miroku not usually join you?”

This time Kagome answered. “Sometimes he does, but today he’s decided to sleep in. You’re welcome to join us if you would like! My mother has been dying to meet you.” Sango watched as Kagome smiled so hard her eyes shut into little crescent shapes and she knew she couldn’t refuse. Plus, she was pretty hungry, despite eating so much the night before, and she did miss being around family vibes…

“Well, if you’re sure I’m not imposing, I wouldn’t mind not having to cook,” Sango agree, smiling a little. Inuyasha smirked at that remark, knowing that Mrs. Higurashi loved to cook, especially for Kagome’s friends. Clapping her hands together, the younger of the two girls gave an excited noise.

“Awesome! Let’s go then, my mom must be waiting,” Kagome said, excitedly grabbing Inuyasha’s hand to lead him to the door. Sango followed close behind, and only heard Kagome’s surprised gasp once she closed the door behind herself. Looking up, she saw a shirtless Miroku standing in his doorway with a young, pretty girl. Sango recognized her from one of their classes, except instead of her usual workout clothes, the girl now had one a very thin, very revealing dress. It was much too fancy to be wearing at this time, so Sango could only assume she had worn it the night before. Which would only mean…

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Miroku! I’ll see you tomorrow for our next class,” the girl grinned, bowing slightly before walking off. As the girl walked away, Miroku turned his attention from her to Sango, and his eyes widened. Her cheeks had turned a light shade of red and she was leaned back against her door, her hand still clutching the doorknob like she wished to turn it and hid inside her apartment forever.

“Sango, wait, it’s not what it -” Miroku tried to explain, but as quickly as Sango’s facade faltered, it was right back up again. Straightening herself in a snap, Sango looked away from the shirtless man across from her.

“You have nothing to explain to me,” she interrupted him before walking away calmly. Too calmly, Kagome thought as she watched the entire thing unfold. She shook her head at Miroku when he tried to speak again. _Not now_ , she thought, trying to send him the message with her eyes. Miroku seemed to understand since he shut his mouth and nodded his head curtly before disappearing back into his apartment.

The rest of the walk to Kagome’s house was pretty awkward, especially considering they had walked in the same direction as The Girl for a few blocks. Neither Kagome or Inuyasha said anything the entire way there, both of them unsure of what might set Sango off. Inuyasha especially felt bad. He knew the girl hadn’t spent the night like Sango must be thinking. She wasn’t even in their apartment when Inuyasha left after failing to wake Miroku up.

_Hell_ , he thought, _that girl would have been pretty bored if she_ had _come over last night!_ The reason Miroku wanted to sleep in today was because he and Inuyasha had stayed up late the night before talking about Sango. The monk couldn’t stop telling the half demon how worried he was about the dark haired girl and planned to spend the day with her today while Inuyasha and Kagome settled Shippo in. Didn’t look like that was going to happen. Inuyasha wanted to tell all of this to Sango, but knew that she wouldn’t believe him if he tried.

“We’re here!” Kagome said as they reached the bottom of a mountain of steps, her voice a little more cheerful than usual. Inuyasha pulled her closer and whispered in her ear, “Don’t over do it” which made Kagome blush for more than one reason.

Once they reached the top of the steps, Sango took a deep breath. She was glad she had never fell out of shape, or else those stairs would have been a killer. Looking around, she smiled at Kagome’s house and the land that surrounded it. It almost reminded her of her home, with how familiar everything seemed to be; everything on their property had a homey touch to it.

“Grandpa!” Kagome said loudly and started waving wildly as an older man approached them. He was dressed in what seemed to be more traditional clothes, and smiled upon seeing Kagome and Inuyasha. Once he reached them, his granddaughter quickly enveloped him in a hug before he pulled away to pat Inuyasha affectionately on the back.

“It’s good to see you two! I was wondering when the next visit would be. Sota has been missing you like crazy too,” the old man went off on a tangent and Sango couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle, which brought his attention to her. Kagome quickly spoke up.

“Oh, grandpa! This is my new roommate, Sango,” she said, and Sango gave a small bow.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” the older girl said respectfully, and quickly straightened when Kagome’s grandfather hooked an arm through hers and led her to the house.

“Come, come, Kagome’s mother is dying to meet you,” he said, and Sango forced her eyes not to water. She was used to being surrounded by a town of people who were this comforting and friendly. Now, although she had made friends, she felt more alone than she ever imagined possible. This small act from Kagome’s grandfather comforted a part of her soul that she never thought would find ease again. Turning his head back to see Inuyasha and Kagome still standing by the steps, the old man called out, “Hurry up you two! The food won’t stay warm forever.”

All throughout breakfast, Inuyasha and Kagome gave each other worried looks. First, they’d both noticed the sad, far off look had returned to Sango’s face when she met Kagome’s younger brother, Sota, who was very excited to meet her and ask her to teach him some martial arts. She’d put a smile on her face when she promised him that she would, but Inuyasha noticed that her voice and movements seemed off.

_“She’s not living with family, or going to school, and she was desperate to find any job she could. She’s got to be running from something Inuyasha. Something isn’t right here.”_

__

Miroku’s words rang in Inuyasha’s mind as he watched Sango. Had she lost a sibling? What was she running from?

Kagome was worried about her too, but for a completely different reason. She noticed that when Sango wasn’t speaking she would look down and frown as if in anger, and then her face would go blank with sorrow. No doubt Miroku was on her mind. The scene from this morning was still playing in Kagome’s head, too, except only because she was really confused. None of it made sense. Miroku had been annoying Inuyasha with how much he liked Sango, and even came to Kagome a few times to ask her advice on how he should handle his feelings. Kagome knew that Miroku was changing his ways for her, so there’s no way he would be dumb enough to let a girl into his apartment. Looking at Sango now, Kagome sighed.

“Hey, Sango, if you want to leave, we can go back,” she said to her roommate, hesitantly placing one of her hands on Sango’s. They’d finished their food and had been sitting around talking for awhile now. Grandpa had gone out to clean, and Sota had left to play video games. Although it would have been nice to spend the day with her family, Kagome wouldn’t put her roommate through torture - she could come back home another time.

Sango looked up at the younger girl when she felt a hand placed on top of her own. “Huh? Oh, no, it’s okay Kagome. I don’t want to take you away from your family.” _You should spend as much time as you can with them_ , Sango thought to herself. Kagome nodded, knowing better than to push her roommate. Still, she added, “Okay then. But if you want to leave by yourself, you can. The way home isn’t hard to figure out.”

Sango considered it. The truth was, she was in a lot of pain right now. When she met Kagome’s brother, Sota, he’d reminded her so much of her own little brother. The way he’d asked her to teach him martial arts reminded her so much of Kohaku…

_“Big sister!” a young Kohaku called, running up behind Sango. He’d watched from behind some trees as she practiced with her hiraikotsu, using the over sized boomerang as well as her arms and legs to take out a circle of human shaped punching bags. Catching the hiraikotsu, Sango looked over her shoulder and smiled._

__

_“Hey Kohaku! What’s up?” she asked, standing the boomerang vertically so she could lean on it while she spoke. Her little brother just smiled widely once reaching her._

__

_“You’re so good at all this self defense stuff, sis. I know father wants me to start training soon, but I’m kinda nervous about it. I was wondering if you could teach me some of what you know. I want to be strong and make father proud like you do some day!”_

__

Tears welled in Sango’s eyes as Kohaku’s big smile faded from her memory. It wasn’t just her brother on her mind though. Sango had to admit that she’d been thinking a lot about Miroku during the meal as well. She felt almost rude; she knew she wasn’t talking much, she must have made the worst impression on Kagome’s family. Maybe it was best to leave. Forcing the tears to go away, Sango looked up again. “Would it be incredibly rude if I left?”

“Not at all!” the answer came from Kagome’s mother, who smiled exactly like her daughter as she passed Sango a box. “Here, I prepared some lunch for you. You didn’t seem to be feeling well during the meal, so I figured you would leave early.”

Sango now understood where Kagome got her positive attitude from. She bowed her head in thanks and got ready to leave. After assuring Inuyasha and Kagome that she would make it back okay, Sango was on her way home. Mrs. Higurashi made her promise that she would visit again when she was feeling better, and Sango felt herself relax a little with relief. Being around Kagome’s family made her feel at least a little bit less home sick.

Giving herself time to think and prepare in case she bumped into Miroku, Sango took a few detours on her way back to the apartment. This morning she’d almost cried in front of him, and she wouldn’t let that happen again. Sighing, she sat down on a bench in front of a bus stop. What was wrong with her? She was supposed to be focusing on finding her brother, not a stupid man she’d just met. Sure, over the past couple months she’d grown closer to Miroku, even considered confiding in him about her past. But who was she kidding, she knew he was a womanizer. No matter how hard she tried, she would never be enough for him. He’d already bedded women way more interesting than her, what did she have that could possibly appeal to him, especially if she wasn’t interested in sleeping with him?

Shaking her head, Sango stood from the bench and finally walked directly home. She had a new mindset now: find Kohaku. She wouldn’t bother having feelings for a stupid monk - or not monk - whatever he was. She didn’t need the extra distraction. She would just go on with her life as she had originally planned: move into a small apartment, save up some money, and start traveling. She was never supposed to get attached to these people anyway.

Sango had made it to her building and up the flights of stairs to her apartment while these thoughts ran through her mind. Finally, she was pulling out her key and entering her apartment where she could be alone and -

“Hey Kagome, I think I broke your microwave. I’ve been trying to use my fox fire to heat this but - oh, you’re not Kagome.”

Sango froze in her doorway and blinked. In front of her was a small boy, with animal like feet, a puffy tail, and pointed ears. In his right hand he held a Cup Noodle and his left hand was on fire. Sango screamed. Which caused the thing to scream.

~~~~

Miroku spent most of the morning awake in his bed cursing his luck. He’d had nothing but Sango on his mind for weeks. It was killing him inside not being able to reach out and touch her all the time, but he knew if he really wanted her - which he did - he couldn’t do that. The monk was trying so hard to get her to really like him, and this morning ruined it all.

_Hearing a knock on his door, he figured it was Sango coming over since the two lovebirds had left for breakfast and she was probably lonely. He didn’t question why she was so early, he was only happy that he would get to be around her. So happy that he didn’t think to throw a shirt and actual pants on. When he opened the door and realized it wasn’t Sango, he just stood in the doorway, trying his best to get this girl to leave his side._

__

_“Ayame,” Miroku sighed, closing his eyes to rid himself of annoyance at the small auburn headed girl in front of him. By the looks of her, the monk could tell she hadn’t slept much, and was still dressed in her sleep attire, although her thin nightgown looked more like a dress to go partying in. “What are you doing here? Do you know what time it is?”_

__

_Ayame just stared back at him and clenched her teeth along with her fists. “Yes I’m well aware of the time! I couldn’t sleep all night, I wanted to come see you, but I thought I should wait for a reasonable time. You said if I was having trouble fitting into the human world I could come to you or Inuyasha for help. That is why I’m here.”_

__

_Miroku had opened his eyes sleepily as she spoke and immediately closed them again in fear that she would catch him rolling his eyes. Sure, a few months back when they first met Ayame he and Inuyasha had offered to help her in any way. Ayame was a wolf demon, just like Koga, and his assistant instructors Ginta and Hakkaku. While the male demons had opted to take on human forms with concealment charms and live their lives among humans after The Great Demon War, Ayame and her pack chose a different path. They changed themselves to the form of a wolf and lived high up in the mountains for five hundred years. Once it was clear that the pack needed a new leader, since Ayame’s grandfather was dying, she came in search of Koga, one of the only honorable wolf demons still alive._

__

_“Alright,” Miroku agreed, rubbing his eyes with regret. “What can I do for you then? Is the concealment charm giving you a hard time?”_

__

_“Huh? Oh no, it’s fine. It took some getting used to, but I actually like the pendant, it looks really cute,” the young demon girl smiled as she toyed with the charm around her neck, but quickly snapped out of it to scowl at Miroku. “It’s Koga! I’ve been trying to get him to notice me in the human ways, you know, figuring that would help me fit in. Plus he’s been pretending to be human for so long I thought that maybe that’s how he would prefer it. But obviously that’s not working. It’s been months and he still refuses to marry me! He only has eyes for her,” Ayame pouted and jerked her head across the hall. The monk nodded, knowing Koga had a thing for Kagome, much to Inuyasha’s displeasure._

__

_“So what do you want me to do about that? Talk to Koga? He probably won’t listen to me. I mean, I could threaten to fire him, but you know -”_

__

_“No, no! Nothing like that!” Ayame interrupted. She shook her head and took a step forward, taking Miroku’s hand in a begging manner. “I need private lessons from you! For martial arts, that is. If the human way doesn’t work, then I’ll just try to appeal to Koga’s instincts. He already sees how well I care for children when I help with his class, which means I’d be able to take good care of the children I’ll bare for him. He needs to see how well I can fight though, to protect our children and pack. If I do that, I’m sure I can return home with him! Please Miroku! Please!”_

__

_“Ayame, you don’t need private lessons. You’re a good fighter, and I’ve sat in on the classes you’ve been in with Koga. His eyes hardly leave you, trust me, he’s noticed how good you’ve gotten,” Miroku responded, taking his hand away from her. Although her eyes brightened at the words, she still wasn’t convinced._

__

_“Even if that is true, I’m still not good enough. Please? Just one lesson, and then you can give up on me if you want.” Ayame was biting her bottom lip and Miroku swore her eyes grew at least two sizes bigger as she stared up at him, begging silently. Sighing, he nodded his head._

__

_“Fine, but only because you’re someone I promised to look after. No one can know about these lessons, if any of the other women find out they’ll be asking for private lessons, too, and I just don’t have the time.”_

__

_“Oh thank you so much!” Ayame clenched her fists by the sides of her face, finally relaxing. Koga would be hers, eventually. This would just get her that much closer. Smiling, she said, “Well, it was nice seeing you again, Miroku! I’ll see you tomorrow for our next class,” and walked off._

Squeezing his eyes shut, Miroku forced the memories out of his mind. He had no idea how he was going to face Sango and try to explain all of this. His best bet was to drink some coffee and wait for the time being. He stood out of his bed and was about to start making his coffee when he heard a scream from across the hall.

“Sango,” he yelled, rushing towards the sound. Thankfully, the door was still opened so he wouldn’t have to try to knock it down. When he stepped inside, he cursed to himself. There was Shippo, in his true from. Miroku rolled his eyes when he saw Sango standing on the black recliner chair that was near the doorway, her shoe in her hand ready to strike Shippo. _Leave it to a descendent of demon slayers to be afraid of a small fox demon._

__

“Shippo!” he yelled, throwing one of the girls’ decorative pillows at the small demon in anger as Inuyasha and Kagome came running in. Inuyasha immediately took a protective stance in front of Sango while asking, “What happened, what is it, what’s wrong?” His eyes searched around frantically until they found Shippo, grinning hesitantly with a Cup Noodle in his hand. Suddenly, Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed.

“Shippo, you buttface! You were supposed to wear a concealment charm! Miroku didn’t travel all the way back to our shrine to get that just for you to not wear it!” The monk looked away as his best friend spoke. True, he had told Inuyasha and Kagome that he was traveling back to get the charm for Shippo, but that was only half the reason. The other part was to talk to the monks about his hand.

_“There is nothing that can be done now. You know what you must do to break the curse.”_

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, Inuyasha, don’t kill me!” the small fox demon threw himself onto the floor in a fetal position, and Sango slowly stepped back onto the ground. He didn’t seem so scary now…

“Shippo,” Kagome said in a voice used to punish toddlers as she approached him. She took him in her arms like she had for years and asked, “Why didn’t you use the charm?”

“I did!” Shippo was quick to say. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket to prove that he had indeed brought it with him. He lowered his head when he continued. “I just didn’t like the way it made me feel a little foggy so I figured I could take it off once I got here! Plus no one was home anyway.”

“But we told you about Sango, Shippo; you know you were supposed to wear it around the house,” Inuyasha scolded, and Sango couldn’t help but feel like this is how it would be if Kagome and Inuyasha had kids.

“I didn’t think she would be home today, she was supposed to be spending the day with the monk!” Shippo said in defense, pointing a finger at Miroku who blanched at the accusation. Sango turned her head to him. She hadn’t remembered them making any plans together, and clearly he hadn’t either.

“Those plans changed,” Miroku quietly said, and Sango saw Inuyasha’s sympathetic look before he quickly spoke up. “You were supposed to wear the damn charm anyway, Shippo!” the silver haired male said defensively, and Shippo groaned.

“I know, I’m sorry, okay! Stop yelling at me!”

Kagome could feel Shippo shaking in her arms and couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He really hadn’t meant to cause any harm, no one had been home, and the charm made him uncomfortable. Plus, if Sango stayed around, she would eventually find out, right? “Alright,” Kagome said, “calm down everyone. There’s no point in throwing blame around, how about we just focus on the problem at hand. Sango, how’re you doing?”

The older girl blinked as all eyes turned to her. How was she? She had to take a moment to figure that out herself. When she had arrived home she was still upset about Kohaku and Miroku; for now, that pain had subsided. The shock of seeing Shippo had caused a numb feeling to overcome her. She wasn’t sure how she was really feeling, except for maybe confused. “I’m...alright, I suppose. A little confused.”

“Okay, we can work with that,” Kagome nodded. With her face set, she asked, “What are you confused about?”

“What...well, what is he?” Sango pointed to Shippo as she spoke and he blushed, his eyes growing wide with embarrassment. He knew he was small for his age, but he didn’t think anyone could confuse what he was.

“What do I look like! I’m a fox demon, obviously!” he yelled, curling into Kagome for comfort, but the younger girl just shushed him.

“She doesn’t know what demons are, Shippo, that’s why we asked you to wear the charm around the house,” Miroku said, his tone of voice tired, as if this was a topic he had to go over many times. Sango looked at the man next to her and her expression grew even more confused. Of course she knew what demons were, she just didn’t think they were real.

“Demons?” she questioned out loud, and it was Inuyasha who spoke next.

“Well,” he said with a blank voice. “I guess this is a good a time as any to show you these.” Sango watched as Inuyasha took his silver hair out of it’s ponytail and shook it out. Sitting on top of his head were two very distinct dog ears. No. Way.

“Oh,” Sango whispered, walking closer to get a better look. For a moment she worried that she was being rude, but she dismissed the thought, figuring they couldn’t blame her. They’d just thrown her into a whole new world after all. “So, those are your ears then?” she couldn’t help but giggle, which caused Inuyasha to frown at her.

“Yeah, what’s so funny about ‘em?” he asked, his voice annoyed to cover how embarrassed he was.

Sango shook her head. “It’s nothing. I just always figured that you had large ears because no matter what hairstyle you had, there was always some hair covering the sides of your face. I figured you were trying to cover your ears because you were insecure about them, but you were really just covering that area because you don’t have any ears there at all.”

Inuyasha’s eyes went round and all he could do was blink at her. “Oh...well...yeah…” The truth was, he was preparing himself for something much worse. He thought she would shriek and call him a freak, or ask him if he was a test tube baby from an experimentation lab. He didn’t think she would just laughed. “I’m a half demon.”

“So, all the stories I grew up hearing about demons, they’re true?” she asked, sitting down on the sofa in their living room. The group nodded, and made themselves comfortable around her. It seemed like they would be there awhile, answering questions like this and explaining things.

The group ended up staying around until after dinner. They’d spent hours talking to Sango, and once they were all certain that she wasn’t in shock and that everything made sense to her, they settled on ordering in. They all needed some food in them by that time. Miroku was the first one to call it a night, saying that he hadn’t slept much the night before and was exhausted. To his surprise, Sango walked him to the door.

“Listen, Miroku…” she started, but trailed off, looking away. She didn’t know how to bring up what was on her mind; it was a touchy subject, for both of them. Miroku noticed her hesitance and prodded her to go on.

“What is Sango?” he asked, leaning towards the door. He wasn’t lying when he said he was exhausted, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay awake. Finally she continued.

“If demons are real then, does that mean, well, your hand…”

“Ah,” Miroku smiled, finally understanding why she was being shy. He reached out to give her arm a friendly tap. “Yes. The story I told you about the demon and the curse, that’s true. I’m sorry for having to lie to you, but you can imagine the kind of reaction I would get from people if I told them the truth.”

Sango looked up when Miroku gave a small laugh and realized he was putting on a brave front. She could tell that he changed whenever he thought of it; he was just as scared about it as she was. And now that the source was demonic rather than biological, well, there was even less hope. Pushing these thoughts out of her mind, she nodded her head. “It’s okay,” she mumbled, and she wasn’t sure if she was talking about his lie or what had happened this morning. Still, Miroku smiled and nodded before saying goodnight, and crossed the hall without another word.

~~~~~

It was well past midnight when Inuyasha finally made his way back to his apartment. He expected Miroku to be asleep already, so he was surprised when he saw his friend sitting at their kitchen table playing with an empty bottle of beer. “Hey monk,” he greeted casually, “what are you doing up? I thought you were exhausted.”

“I was,” Miroku said, his eyes never leaving the bottle as he slid it from one hand across the table to the other. “But I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to just get up.”

“And drink, apparently,” Inuyasha mumbled under his breath. He sat down next to Miroku at the kitchen table and leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. “So, what was Ayame doing here this morning anyway? I never got to ask you.”

Miroku wanted to be annoyed at the memory, but at this point he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything at all. “She wants private martial arts lessons. She’s hoping if she becomes a good fighter it will encourage Koga to make her his wife.” Inuyasha responded by snorting.

“Good, give her all the lessons you can, monk, the sooner that wolf stench is gone from my life the better,” he said, leaning back in his chair and stretching. Looking at Miroku, he tried to figure out what was wrong. Sango had walked him to the door, didn’t that mean she had forgiven him? He thought they would have talked it out by now, maybe she said something that hurt him. “So, did you explain all of this to Sango?”

“No,” Miroku answered shortly, not really feeling in the mood to discuss the beautiful girl across the hall. Inuyasha huffed quietly; he’d hoped to get more information out of the response.

“When are you gonna tell her then? It didn’t seem like she was upset anymore.”

“I’m not going to tell her, Inuyasha. At this point, it’s best that she doesn’t think highly of me.”

Miroku noticed that Inuyasha looked shocked by the response he gave, and he guessed it was pretty shocking of him to say. Since he’d met Sango he hadn’t been able to stop talking about her, she was the only thing on his mind. He’d been working towards becoming a man that was worthy of her, but for what? When Sango asked him about his hand earlier, he saw her grim expression, and something clicked in his mind. What would happen if he got close with Sango? What if things went well and they got married, had kids, had a son? He had seen her hurt expression even for a moment when she saw him standing with Ayame; he knew that even if just a little she felt the same way about him as he did her. There was nothing else he could do. He refused to doom Sango to the life of a widow, and the pain of losing a child.

“What are you talking about? You haven’t shut up about her for weeks and now you don’t want her to like you? What is going on, Miroku? Have you lost your mind?” Inuyasha asked, leaning forward again; now that he was interested in the conversation, he forgot how tired he was.

“You know what master Mushin said to me, Inuyasha. There’s nothing left that I can do. The cuse is being awakened, and it’s going to kill me much faster than it killed my father,” Miroku tried to explain himself. Inuyasha wasn’t having it.

“So what? That drunk doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Don’t tell me what he said has got you giving up.” On the inside, Inuyasha was just as scared as his friend was, and the fact that Miroku sounded like he was already digging himself a grave made it worse.

“I’m not giving up. I just don’t want to get close to Sango only to leave her. Mushin told me that her home town had been destroyed; it looked like a natural disaster wiped out the entire place. No one survived, Inuyasha, and I won’t have her lose anyone else.” Miroku couldn’t justify doing that to anyone, especially Sango. And he wouldn’t doom another soul to this fate. “The curse stops with me. I won’t allow anyone else to get hurt because of it. I’ll die alone and stop the chain. I’ll be the last man to die of this cursed fate.”

“Oh please,” Inuyasha said, his voice taking on an angry tone. He didn’t want to hear Miroku talk about his death any longer, frankly because Miroku was all he had. Sure, there was Kagome, and even Shippo. But Miroku was the one who had been there from the start, the one who really understood him, the one who he could always count on no matter what. “Stop your selfless act, monk, you’re not fooling me. You think you’re making some huge sacrifice, well let me tell you, you ain’t! You were always dramatic, but damn Miroku, I didn’t think you’d try to pull one of these on me.

“Listen, I know the real you, and this ain’t him. The Miroku I know wouldn’t give up so easily. So what if the curse is awakened? That doesn’t really change much does it? We’re gonna do what we have planned to do since we were kids: we’ll find a way to cure it, even if we have to track down some five hundred year old demon. Now get off your soapbox, and go to bed. I’m tired, and I don’t want to be up all night because you can’t sleep again.”

With that, Inuyasha flicked Miroku’s forehead and stood to leave. Before he disappeared into the hallway, he turned back to make one last comment. “You know, you said you don’t want to leave Sango, but if you give up now, she’s already lost you.”

Miroku looked up to tell Inuyasha to shut up, but his friend was already gone. _Great_ , he thought, _that didn’t go as I expected._ Sighing, Miroku placed his bottle into the sink before turning off the lights and heading to bed. Maybe he’d get a few hours of sleep before having to get ready for the class he was set to teach. Sango usually helped him teach this class, and he wondered if she’d be around tomorrow after everything that happened today.

 


End file.
